Pamela Richardson

Non-Fiction

“A Kidnapped Mind by Pamela Richardson is a wake-up call to anyone who has ever been involved with divorcing families. By chronicling her son’s desperate attempt to survive the fallout of a court’s custody decision, Richardson raises serious questions about what is ‘in a child’s best interests.’ She also challenges the court’s ability to even make those decisions. Anyone considering divorce should read this book first.”Dr. Reena Sommer

A KIDNAPPED MIND

This is both a heart-wrenching story by a mother grieving for her son and the introduction of a new and little-known syndrome, Parental Alienation Syndrome.

PAS was identified in 1985 by Dr. Richard Gardner as a disorder primarily arising in the context of child-custody disputes and combines a parent’s indoctrinations with the child’s own contributions to the vilification of the target parent.

From age five Pamela Richardson’s son, Dash, suffered from PAS at the hands of his father. Indoctrinated to believe his mother had abandoned him, after years of monitored phone calls and impeded access, eight-year old Dash decided he didn’t want to be “forced” to visit her at all: later he told her he would never see her again if she took the case to court. For eight more years Pamela battled Dash’s father, the legal system, their psychologist, the school system, and Dash himself to try to protect her son – first from his father, then from himself.

Pamela Richardson has been host of The Saturday Show and has worked at Toronto Life Fashion, Vancouver Magazine, and Western Living. She has written and produced pieces for television and magazines. Today Pamela is a full-time mother to her two teenaged boys and lives in Vancouver with her husband David.